Four Dinners at the Orlando International Fringe Festival was a passionate play about two sisters, a roommate and an ex who lustfully explored their sexuality as queer women. The show was written and directed by Emmy Frederickson and Kelsey Grace Kidd.
The sexual relationships blossomed and unfolded so fast that I started to lose track of who was sleeping with who. When one relationship flickered out the ex-girlfriend of Penny (Liv Rawls) got pulled into the vortex of passion in the small apartment.
All of the passionate feelings had to be sorted out over the course of four dinners. Had this play been about men it would have been titled four dinners and a fist fight, but the woman managed to keep their impassioned conversations in check by passing around a small stuffed animal which was a sign that only the woman holding the plush could talk.
The action in the play pealed off as quickly as the clothing. When the sister of Penny, one of the roommates came over, she is seduced with surprising ease by Ynez (Marissa Rodriguez) the other roommate. I imagine the point of the play is that couples should be able to calmly discuss their feelings even when they are cheating or swapping partners. Throughout the chaos of the love triangle or quadrangle, Penny seemed to be the one person who kept a level head.
At heart all the characters were vulnerable and the quick leaps into sexual relationships may have been a hope to find some sense of belonging. Despite hurt feelings, the woman remained close. The small apartment was a tinderbox of emotions, but they managed to remain friends although rather dysfunctionaly.